


Ami vs the World

by alessfansama



Category: Naruto
Genre: But its the world of Naruto so meh we're just gonna ignore that, Child Neglect, Child Soldiers, Gen, Not Beta Read, Self-Insert, Sort Of, but special thanks to Flux you gave me the ok, i'm honestly surpised Ami and Funeno had tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:46:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22835740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alessfansama/pseuds/alessfansama
Summary: Ami is the result of a failed reincarnation! It’s all vague and blurry but, previously a bully to Sakura Haruno, at age eleven Ami now remembers another life as a Naruto fangirl. Nothing makes sense anymore, and all she knows is that she must become a ninja! Too bad that she already quit the academy.A semi-SI look into the shinobi life of Ami, Sakura’s ex-bully, as she navigates the world of the Genin Corp, the Border Patrol and more! Join us on this canon avoiding introspective into the genin life outside of the traditional 3-man genin teams.
Comments: 21
Kudos: 73





	1. A new worldview! A new Ami~!

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what I'm doing or where I'm going with this. But that's okay, cause Ami don't know what she's doing either.
> 
> Special thanks to Flux_Uchiha.

One day Ami woke up, it wasn’t supposed to be any different than any other day for the academy dropout. But she woke up and she was different, everything was different. Ami wakes up and remembers more, more than she did before. Another world, another time, and a story. She could never have imagined it, she wasn't creative enough, even subconsciously, it couldn’t be a dream. It was real and she knew it. 

Ami went through her routine, got ready and dressed, she went down the stairs. Her mother laid passed out drunk in the living room, like any other day. It was as if the whole world had changed, yet nothing had. She had changed, memories of herself, someone else, mashed together and she was Ami. Like before but more. She was Ami and a bit more. And the world hadn’t noticed. And the world hadn’t cared.

She exits the house and she runs until she’s out of breath, until she’s alone. Ami is in an empty park, the big one academy students use as a training ground. It was empty and she was alone and all she could think about was all these things she now knew. Madara, Kaguya, Zetsu, Danzo, Pein and she has never felt true fear until now. She needed to train, she needed to prepare, she was panicking. And she remembered that she wasn’t a shinobi, Ami, the Ami from before, had dropped out, and Ami, the Ami that she was now, felt her heart squeeze desperately. A stinging in her knuckles brings her back to the moment, she had been punching a tree, and she sinks down to its roots.

“Are you alright young comrade?” 

Surprised but numb, she glances back, standing behind her was a young Rock Lee, she looked up at him in awe. He had shaggy hair that curled outward and a shining forehead protector above two thick heavy eyebrows. She recognized him and remembered the surprise, his power against Gaara, and even though that wasn’t him yet, she felt humbled in his presence. Before Ami would have just scoffed at such an ugly person.

“Wha-Who are you?” Because she knew and yet she didn’t.

“Oh! I am Rock Lee! A new Genin of Konoha!” He said cheerfully, giving the young girl a thumbs up. “And who might you be my forlorn friend?”

“A-Ami,” she uttered her name, her only truth, through her tears.

“What seems to ails you, young blossom? And if I am not of help, I will run around the village a 100 times!” He asked, with more sincerity that anyone had ever given Ami.

And so she told him, she told him everything. How she’d woken up feeling different but the same. How the world was now big and dangerous and she was powerless. How she needed to be a ninja, more than anything. How she had quit the academy a year ago, how it felt like her heart was breaking into a million pieces. How she didn’t understand what she was feeling anymore, but maybe she did. And she didn’t know what to do, what she should do, she rambled on, until she couldn’t breath.

Rock Lee crouched down in front of her, taking her bloody and bruised hands and wrapping them gently in bandages. Speaking only once she had calmed down and her tears were drying.

“I think what you are feeling is regret.” He starts, “It’s the punishment faced by those who have given up.”

She looks at him wide-eyed, but can’t bring herself to speak. He continues.

“I have no abilities in Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, there were many times when I thought I should give up. So I understand, but I worked hard and I pushed past my own limits! I promised myself 100 punches and if I can’t 100 kicks, and if I can’t 100 push ups! Until I could no longer move, day in and day out! And it wasn’t in vain, all of it led me to where I am now, a graduated genin! I will prove that using only Taijutsu, I can become a great ninja even without being able to use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu!”

Ami was blown away by his speech, she didn’t know if it was possible, but she also knew that it was.

“I too have fought against the feeling of helplessness. I think you can too!” He exclaimed, he stood up and helped Ami stand up as well.

“Do you think I should try again?” She asked, afraid of the answer.

“If you don’t try, the feeling of regret will never go away. But if you try, even if you fail, even if the whole world is against you, you will feel the satisfaction of having never given up! That is the power of youth!”

“You really believe, I can do it?” Because she wants to, more than she’s ever wanted anything in life.

“Yosh! You can accomplish anything, as long as you are earnest and you never give up! All you have to do is work hard and believe in yourself and you’ll become a great ninja!” Ami felt herself tear up again, because no one had ever said that to her. 

She thanks him, and when he leaves, she goes inside the park's public bathroom to clean her face. Ami thinks about going home but decides not to. She exits the park and heads to Konhoagkure’s Shinobi Academy.

There are classes still in session, she’s not allowed to interrupt, to talk to any of her past teachers, but an Administrator has agreed to see her in his office. A large stout chunin greeted her, his name was Daikoku Funeno and after telling him her name, he pulled out her old file.

“What is it that I can help you with Ami-san?” Daikoku asked cheerfully.

“I would like to come back to the academy.” She said, trying to sound firm and mature, and not like the eleven years old that she was.

Daikoku Funeno frowned, forlorn. He looked through her file and sighed as he closed his folder. Folding his hands on his desk, he looked at the young girl sitting across from him.

“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” he said and all of Ami’s hopes came crashing down.

“What do you mean?” She asked trying to appear confident.

“Ami-san, you are already a year behind all of your peers. And though not bad, your last test scores left much to be desired.”

“But I, I’m, I’d be willing to be a year behind, or retake classes.” 

“I’m afraid that's not possible. It is the Academy policy that once a student willingly leaves, they can not be accepted back.” Daikoku spoke gently but the words were like still harsh knives to her heart.

Ami felt devastated, she thought desperately on what to do. Before she would confront everything with confidence and pride, but she knew her past confidence had been fake, and right now pride seemed unnecessary. She stood up and carefully moved the chair out of the way. She got down in front of the academy teacher’s desk, kneeling directly on the ground and bowing completely, touching her head to the floor. She heard Funeno-san stand up in shock, but she didn’t lift up her head, ears flushed in shame.

“Please,” she whispered, “I want to become a shinobi, I want to protect Konoha, I will do whatever is necessary. Please, I can’t bear to live in regret. Let me die in service of this village.”

“Ami… please, get up.” Daikoku said gently, and helped her off the floor and guided her back to take a seat on the chair. He stroked his goatee pensively as he made it back to his own seat. It’s been a long time since he’d seen a young kid sound so dedicated and serious.

“Alright, there might be something we can do.” Ami looked up, her face flushed with embarrassment but her eyes hopeful, she didn’t dare interrupt. “There is an alternate graduation method, but it’s usually given only to geniuses, to skip grades. You’d have to take a more extensive written exam, a physical combat test against an instructor and prove mastery in all three academy jutsu. Passing all these conditions, you’d be permitted to graduate as a genin. You still won’t be allowed to attend classes, and will be given no proper instruction.” Daikoku paused, there was a question being presented. The eleven year old realized this and she gulped.

“I’ll do it!” Ami called out in exuberance.

“Very well, the graduation exams for this year ended a month ago, you’ll have to take these tests during next year's final exam alongside your previous yearmates. You’ll have a year to catch up with your peers. Even then, you might not be placed into a genin team, but directly into the Genin Corps. Are you still willing to do this?” Asked the academy teacher and administrator.

Ami paused thinking, then bowed deeply into her own lap.

“Please, Funeno-san.”

Daikoku stared out the window as the young girl named Ami, walked out of the academy gate with her arms filled with theoretical books and scrolls on the curriculum. She wasn’t from a clan, so she would have to figure out all the practical aspects entirely on her own. He wondered if that could even be accomplished and hoped it would all turn out okay, afterall the last person who graduated like this had been Itachi Uchiha.


	2. Hard at work! Everyday she’s training!

Ami-chan, the Ami from before, hadn’t been particularly motivated but she had always been organized and self reliant, but this new Ami had the motivation by the bucket full. So she made a plan and formed a regimen for her own training. It was the beginning of February and the graduation exam took place in the middle of January of the next year. Ami had at least eleven months to prepare, to prove herself worthy of being a ninja.

In the morning after waking up Ami would start on some light meditation while practicing the twelve basic hand signs, in order for her body to memorize them seamlessly. Then she’d work on her chakra control with the leaf concentration practice, one of the few chakra focused things she’d learned before dropping out. Sticking a leaf to her forehead while going about her morning routine, going down the street to open the family store then return, making breakfast for her and her mom, and go on to clean the house, go grocery shopping, or mend clothes. After finishing these chores, she’d study shinobi theory and history and laws, making sure to take notes on what she considered important to memorize and another set of notes on what she’d later need to execute practically. 

It was in the afternoons that Ami would work on Taijutsu but since she didn’t have any proper way to learn the katas yet, she figures she’d work on the physical aspect. Following what that Rock Lee kid had said only starting with a little less. She would do 50 laps around half of Konoha, increasing in distance as she improved. If she didn’t complete the laps she’d throw 50 bullseye shuriken throws at half length, if she didn’t get the bullseyes, she’d do 50 punches against a tree stump, then 50 kicks, then push ups, squats, pull ups, until she was so tired she could barely move at all. Ami would then head home as the day ended, around the time her mom got off work and headed to the bars; she’d take a quick shower and fall asleep the moment she touched the bed.

In two months time, surely but slowly Ami was getting better, the leaf exercise she would do throughout the day not just in the mornings. And with improved concentration on her chakra, her meditation and hand signs followed, she noticed they shifted her chakra in a certain way and she tried to pay close attention as to how, as it could be useful later on. In her physical training Ami also felt herself improving so she increased her sets up to the goal of a 100. It was like this everyday of the week, except for one day where she’d give her body a break, to study and review her notes.

After another two months, April and May, she boosted her control to the point of holding leaves on the back of her hands and feet. Thinking she had advanced well enough, she decided to move on to more practical aspects. Learning to tie knots and escape them, then moving on to setting traps. As well as brushing up on the basic first aid she’d been using to treat her scraps and bruises. Ami even went back to the academy to request the private use of a training ground, where she camped out for a couple weekends, practicing survival skills like hunting and foraging. 

Finally it was the hot month of July, and with only 6 months till the exams. She decided finally working on the Academy Jutsu took center stage. Ami started on the Henge first, picturing Iruka-sensei as well as she could remember him. She prepared her hand signs. Dog. Boar. Ram. And felt her chakra move together and form but instead of dispersing it like she did in meditation, or using it to hold leaves in place, she released it. Transformation Jutsu. Chakra quickly coated her body, giving off a small puff of white smoke. 

Iruka Umino stood where the purple haired girl once was, he reached for a compact mirror in the eleven year old’s training bag. Carefully scrutinizing the reflection, Ami found it slightly off. The scar across her face seemed too wide and not big enough. Maybe she didn’t remember her old teacher as well as she thought, she’d need a lot of practice. Dispelling the jutsu, the pre-teen sat and ate a snack in the unused training park she had made her own. She theorized she would need to perfectly observe the transformation target before copying them properly. After a little more than a week of practicing several people she thought it was almost perfect and moved on to the clone technique. 

Some weeks later, after she could perform at least 5 bushin, Ami moved on to the Kawarimi, which she found the most difficult. But experimenting with the size and weight of the replacement object, as well as the amount of chakra used; the eleven year old thought they’d attained the appropriate speed, distance, and control to say they had mastered it. 

It was toward the end of August that Ami came across a major problem. Like they did in the taijutsu classes of the academy, she had trained her body and developed her stamina to the maximum. But the issue came down to the actual Taijustu itself, without proper instruction or anyone to spar against, she wouldn’t be on the level of the other kids her age, much less be able to perform adequately in a bout against an instructor. 

Firstly the drawn out katas in her scroll didn’t help whatsoever. If Ami could see them in real life it would be easier, which gave birth to the first solution. She used the Clone Jutsu, and the clones, even without substance, would perform the academy style katas; the girl would then compare them. Once she thought they matched well enough with the drawing and written description, she herself would reproduce them. Running through them slowly then speeding up, and adding the sequence of katas to her exercise regime, 100 sequences after 100 kunai bullseye at full distance with each hand. Squashing down the useless desire for someone to tell her if she was even doing it properly.

A second dilemma was that without anyone to spar with, practicing the throws and rolls was particularly difficult. Ami came up with the idea, she didn’t know if it would work or not, but she climbed a tree and jumped down on the first branch. She flipped in mid-air and when she landed on the ground she rolled, as if she had been thrown. It seemed to work, substituting the force of another person with gravity itself, so she practiced endlessly. Plus if in the future she fell from a tree, she’d have the instinct to get back up and attack fully ingrained.

For throws, it was also hard to figure out, but she ended up using the Substitution Jutsu. Ami used a thick cut log, bigger and heavier than herself with long segmenting branches that could simulate arms. Standing behind it, she would kawarimi with the log, ending up in front she’d grab it’s arm and throw it over her shoulder, slamming it to the floor. She did this tirelessly. 

A further problem, having absorbed the kata sequence, she realized it ended up more like a dance than anything else. A real fight never stayed in a choreographed pattern of movements, which was what a kata was. This was a setback, which was momentarily dealt with by switching up the kata randomly, forced to adapt and make up the transitions in between, while coming up with a better plan. 

Mixing and matching the order of the katas wasn’t enough, it was still lacking the aspects of a spar. Ami, who’s chakra control had gotten quite good, decided to fight against her own bushin clones. Unfortunately, like afterimages, they carried no weight and thus could do no damage. But still she treated them as if a single touch could kill her, laboring to avoid any and all hits. Attacking was much worse, a single graze and they’d dispelled. 

So the young girl found herself making more clones in a day than was advisable, suffering chakra exhaustion daily. Thankfully in the theory book it said that carefully supervised chakra exhaustion was a great way to expand one’s chakra reserves. Ami rather thought she could carefully supervise herself, like she had done all her life. So it turned into a good form of chakra training but it still wasn’t enough to substitute a proper Taijutsu spar.

Then came the final and most ingenious plan, using her recently acquired knowledge on traps, Ami made herself a little obstacle course. She would run through the path she had made, purposely setting off the traps, treating them like enemy ninja. The huge swinging tree trunks and logs she’d treat as people, kicking and punching her way through them. All the while dodging and deflecting against the catapulting sea of kunai and shuriken. Constantly resetting the speed and not calculating the gauge or trajectory for the traps, hoping to make it unpredictable. It was similar to a thing called ninja warrior, which was what she was actually trying to become. Ami found this quite funny in comparison though she didn’t understand why.

Her training continued on, then suddenly it was the midst of December. With less than a month left to go, Ami thought back on her previous self. Ami-chan’s friends had stopped talking to her well after they all quit the academy, going back to their own lives, forgetting about her. Guess they hadn’t really been friends, just a posse she had bossed around. Ami and her mom living in different worlds, ignoring one another, that was still the same. It was a lonely and arduous life, she had even forgotten to celebrate her own birthday, but at least now she had purpose. 

Going home early that day, Ami decided to reward herself with a long hot bath. As she entered the bathroom she looked in the mirror and saw herself. Unless to criticize her henges, she hadn’t really done that this past year, fearing that maybe whatever changes she felt might have been physically too. Her purple hair was longer, messy and uncared, filled with split ends. Her twelve year old body was muscular and slim fit, but her skin slightly tan from training under the sun was covered with scraps and bruises and old scars. Her clothes were worn old hand me downs, that had been mended and re-mended, barely held together after such grueling shinobi training. This was the result of that training, what a year of hard work looked like. Ami looked like shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No dialogue, huh. Bold choice.


	3. The Makeover! A cheapskate shopping spree!

Ami’s family owned the Uzuki Pawn Shop, a civilian exchange store. Ami's mother had inherited it from her late father, being his only living civilian child left. It was where the civilians of Konoha went to buy, sell or trade goods, though most commonly customers would come in to pawn off their things in exchange for a loan. Within a certain amount of time the customer could buy back their item by paying back the loan with interest. If unable to it would then become a part of the stores relatively valuable commodities of goods, of which included: jewelry, musical instruments, household equipment, electronics, quality kitchen supplies, gold, silver, work tools, and the occasional shinobi items.

Every morning Ami would go open up the shop, clean it a bit and wait for the store employees to arrive. And, of course, snag what she deemed valuable and useless to resell to civilians. As long as she erased it from the inventory list it was hers to keep, afterall it was her family's shop, and she took it as payment for her free labor. 

Of the worthwhile pieces she’d found was a large canvas cloak. Only somewhat torn, she had resown some seams, gave it a good wash, and it was as good as new. She had perfect shinobi traveling cloak, multifunctional as a sleeping mat or emergency tarp to withstand any harsh weather she came across. Another great find was a slightly curved painted over pair of kunai, pawn of a long time ago as decorative pieces, removing the gaudy paint had revealed a sharp high quality layered steel edge, turning the small knives into Ami’s preferred weapons for slashing and deflecting.

Other helpful objects were a spool of trap wire, that had mistakenly been labeled as fishing wire. A standard old but never used first aid kit from the 3rd war. And a mini-messenger bag that Ami found to be so cute, that she couldn’t put it down. It was made of red high-grade leather with an adorable flap and a silver turnlock clasp,which she eventually readjusted and converted into a double belted shinobi waist pouch.

For more day to day weapons, on her days off, Ami had foraged through some of the used training grounds for kunai and shuriken. A common practice amongst the orphans or poor shinobi of the village. It was much cheaper to have your weapons sharpened than to buy new ones altogether. Going to one of Konoha’s small family owned weapon shops, Ami carried with her two small crates. One was filled with the weapons she wanted sharpened. The other with broken ones, or other weapon types she found pointless, which she would exchange as raw metal in order to get a better discount.

Next up were the shinobi clothes, which would be the most costly. Ami, knowing this, had saved up a lot of cash. Holding a vague distant memory of something called college, she knew how to live on a budget. Left in charge of the general upkeep of the house for which she received a small allowance. She started by buying the cheapest brands of household products, and only discounted foods, fruits and vegetables that were in season, at their lowest prices. Ami’s frugal spending habits, reduced the weekly expenditure by at least half, the other half of the money she would hide away and save. 

Finally bringing herself to waste all her well earned savings, Ami entered the shinobi clothing store. The fabrics used by ninjas were different than the ones used by civilians, they were thicker, more durable and lasted much longer. Shinobi clothing is more expensive because of it. Skipping past the front of the store filled with the new trends, walking by the typical everyday uniforms and ignoring the original designs fitted to the mannequins. Ami head straight toward the back, there against the walls were large wooden crates were messily stuffed to the brim with out of style, multicolored mismatched clothes. The bargain bin, of course, Ami was a girl who preferred not to buy anything at full price. The new Ami had a lifetime experience of thrift shopping and the Ami-chan of old, granddaughter to the inventor of the pawn shop, knew the satisfaction of getting a good deal.

The twelve year old girl spent over an hour scouring through the piles of clothes. She had found undergarments in her size in various neon colors, including bra tops, that were fitting but left room for at least a year’s worth of growth. Shinobi armor was notably expensive, so it was a pleasant surprise to find a weird mesh armor undershirt that had only one right sleeve. It was a size too big but with luck Ami could hold it in place with clothed bandages at the waist and wrist. Another good offer was the pair of black extra small adult gloves with metal hand guards, the perfect fit for her child like hands. 

Looking for more discreet outerwear Ami moved on to the discount rack, still filled with many crimes against fashion but not as cheap as those inside the crates. Finally she came across three identical blue shirts, they were all too long or not long enough to be dresses with sleeves cut much too short at the elbow. To match Ami got some mud green pants with drawstrings at the waist, shin, and ankles. The only set back to the pants was the neon lime colored strings from said drawstrings, but they could be replaced with some black strings she found dangling on a different bin shirt. Lastly Ami spent several minutes staring at a bright orange jacket before settling on a cropped windbreaker in light peach pink, it had extra long sleeves and a lot of pockets.

Finally having made all her purchases she head back but not before stopping at the Shinobi tools general store. A bit different from the family owned ninja shop, the general store had a mass produced feel to it that Ami didn't like. 

"Welcome young miss! You're in luck! Special offer for today, two for one sale on kunai pouches." The sales associate cheerfully greeted, failing to say that prices of the already overpriced pouches had probably been raised. Ami completely ignored the young man, you had likely never even thrown a kunai in his life, and headed to the dusty discount shelf. 

At first she hadn't seen anything useful till a little kunai pouch caught her eye. It was a two strapped kunai holster, very out of style but 70% off. Definitely worth the 2x1 sale, she did some desperate shuffling to uncover a second one. They were both a matte grey, almost match her dark grey sandals. Even having the two straps was perfect, as Ami thought of sewing her black shuriken holster just besides one of them. It would seem that that was it, until she found the holy grail of ninja tool. It was a black tool belt with 4 little scroll pouches on the back, with the storage scrolls still inside, it was 30% off! On their own, Ami couldn't even afford one seal, let alone four! Way over her planned budget, she didn't hesitate to buy it, it was a steal!

Spending the next few days sewing the clothing she'd bought. Apart from cutting the shirts to more acceptable lengths, Ami decided to have a shortened capped sleeve on the right arm, to show off the mesh armored arm. The left side, adding from the leftover fabric, she would fully lengthen down to the wrist. Finishing that, she went on to work on adjusting the rest of the clothes that needed it. After which she went out to train, spending a couple weeks testing and getting used to her new outfit.

The scroll belt was a perfect fit and matched with the the red double belt of her butt pouch. The storage scrolls, like their size, only fit small amounts, about a quarter of a backpack. That of course didn't lessen the appeal, it was still better than carrying a bulky bag on a mission. One of the scrolls Ami put her camping supplies, including the thick heavy cloak. The second one was filled with spare clothes: underwear, her same shirt twice, an extra pair of pants, and a simple lightweight yukata she got from the shop, in case there was need for a quick civilian disguise. The third scroll she sealed with medical supplies and food; ration bars half-priced because of discontinued flavors. And finally the fourth was for extra weapons and tools.

And lastly the hair, Ami had been putting it off, unsure of what to do to it. Ami-chan loved her long side bang so that was a must keep, but the rest surely didn't need to be that long. Washing and then carefully combing her dark purple locks, Ami got to work with the house scissors. The left side was kept long just past her shoulder, the bangs on her forehead cut short and uneven, the rest was also shortened to just past her ears. Even in the academy, when Ami-chan had a similar style, she had never had it this short. It was nice. The finishing touch was a couple of bobby pins to keep the long side bang from getting in her face, that could, if needed, be used for lockpicking. 

Ami, relaxed from the haircut, went into a light meditation. Careful to continue holding the weighty rock pebbles she had sticking to herself, having long replaced the leaves. Feeling calm as she got out of meditation, Ami slowly removed the pebbles one by one. She looked over and checked her workout calendar, tomorrow was still January 19th, the day of the exams. Retaken by the nervous restlessness she's had all week, the potential ninja swept the hairs off the bathroom floor and got ready for bed.


	4. Graduation Exam! Ami vs Mizuki!

Ami was asked to come extra early, compared to the other exams, her written test was twice as long. She sat once again in Daikoku Funeno office, he was more or less her sponsor after all. Daikoku stared down the twelve year old sitting across from him, using the surface of his desk to write out her answers. She had cleaned up nicely, he was pleasantly surprised. The Academy teacher had seen the young girl rather sporadically throughout this past year, when she came to request the use of training grounds, to return a scroll or ask for more reading material. Each time he saw her she had looked more and more unkempt, he had been a bit worried for her but it wasn’t Daikoku’s place to tell the girl to give up. He had thought, in the beginning, that her determination would wear down over time but the fact that it hadn’t... Ami Fudo might just have what it takes to be a ninja.

Ami patiently sat in a chair in the hallway beside the exam room. She watched as her ex-classmates got called on and walked from their classroom to the closed exam room next to it, most of them too nervous or focused to even notice her. Apparently they only need to perform the Doppelganger Technique to graduate. She had long finished the written section, it had gone by in blur but she suspected she had passed. 

Now she was just waiting for the physical test, she would be called on after all everyone else was done. Finally all they’d all passed or failed, depending on whether they left the room with a happy grin and a forehead protector.

“Ami Fudo," called out the white haired teacher.

Ami was led inside to a large empty room. A large wooden desk in front of the blackboard had Konohagakure Hitai-ate gleaming across the top, a distraction tactic most likely. Two of her old instructors, Mizuki and Iruka, sat behind it, clipboards in hand. Ami continued walking forward til she stood in the center of the room facing them both.

"Hello, Ami. It's good to see you again." Iruka greeted her, she nodded as a reply and he continued. "I understand you're taking a slightly different exam from what is normal. You must provide proof of proficiency in Taijutsu and the academy Ninjutsu."

"Yes, Iruka-sensei."

"Mizuki will be fighting you, I will observe from the side and the match will end once I call it. Understood?"

"Yes, Iruka-sensei." Ami repeated, tugging on her gloves to adjust them. 

The two teachers conversed in a hush with one another, before Mizuki turned towards her and gave her a gentleman smile. He positioned himself in front of her and got into a stance. She readied herself as well but didn't mirror him.

"Are you ready, Ami?" She only nodded. "Begin." 

First, Ami threw a volley of kunai at Mizuki, he sidestepped all of them. She quickly performed the bushin jutsu and, as the two opponents rushed each other, she followed it up with the kawarimi. Just as he was about to hit her she replaced herself with the kunai she'd thrown earlier. The white haired sensei thinking he had only dispelled a clone, went to go after the other clones, not yet realizing he was almost back to back with the girl. 

Ami took advantage of the teacher's momentary lack of awareness. At the same time, with her right hand grabbing the man under his armpit and, with the left, reaching up to hook onto the front of his neck. She used all her strength to throw him above and overhead, slamming him on to the hardwood floors. Acting fast, she flipped around, using the full weight of her body, Ami held the traitor in place, her knee to the middle of his shoulder blades. She pressed the cold edge of her curved kunai to his throat, heart beating like crazy, but the knife steady. Wait... traitor? What did that mean?

Iruka interrupted her thoughts and called out that the match was over. Ami pocketed her favorite kunai, standing and giving Mizuki some space to rise on his own. She gave him the Konoha reconciliation hand signed, used commonly after formal spars. For a brief moment she thought she saw Mizuki scoff, but then he was smiling happily, returning the gesture.   
  
Iruka approached with great approval, he congratulated her on her rather quick fight. Taking rapid notes on his clipboard, asking and commenting about details of it.

"And you used the Body Replacement Jutsu or did you transform into the kunai?" He asked.

"I, uh, used Kawarimi." She replied, wondering if she even had enough chakra to transform into something so small.

"Very well, so it's just the Transformation Jutsu, you need to perform."

She transformers into him, and hopes it looks like him. They ask her to dispel, she does so with little smoke and the sensei exchange looks. Ami gets nervous as they write and look over their own notes. Finally Iruka smiles and congratulates her. 

"You're now a Shinobi of Hidden Leaf Village," he says as he hands Ami her forehead protector. "If only my other students had worked as hard as you. It's a shame there isn't any space for you on the genin teams."

"Thank you so much," she simply replies as she bows to them, close to tearing up with happiness.

Afterwards she strode the village wearing it proudly, with great satisfaction, but halfway to her home that afternoon she paused. Sitting on a bench on the side of the road, she took it off and stared at her forehead protector, tracing her fingers against the carved insignia.

"There you are," it was Mizuki-sensei. He approached and sat down beside her, "I was looking for you…" 

Ami stared at the man, not really listening to his words; she remembered the passing thought she had during their fight. Traitor, her mind echoed. Mizuki was a traitor, ...maybe. It didn't make much sense to Ami-chan. The white haired man was always smiling and kind, when she was in the academy he'd let the girls sit out and get extra rest during all the Taijutsu training. Actually, in retrospect, sabotaging a generation of kunoichi, sounded like a pretty traitorous thing to do.

"... and I'm not supposed to tell you but there is a special way to get placed on a genin team..."

"No thank you." Ami interrupted promptly. "I think I'm quite happy to serve Konoha through the Genin Corps."

She got up from the bench, pocketed her hitai-ate and walked off, ignoring and leaving behind the stunned Chūnin. Ami headed home, it was for the best she thought, the Hokage wouldn’t forgive her for treason like he would Naruto.


End file.
